hillary clinton involved in a major deal with israel and hamas. a cease-fire that's to end bloodshed on both sides of the border. but there's violence including a bus bombing injuring nearly two dozen people in the heart of tel aviv. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from jerusalem. you're in "the situation room." we're now two hours into a cease-fire between israel and hamas and so far things have been relatively quiet. the israeli military reports at least two rockets being fired into israel after the cease-fire

deadline. this is the scene right now in gaza city. it's remarkable. for the first time in days people are out in the streets. they are celebrating. traffic is bumper-to-bumper. everyone, everyone appears to be in celebration. people waving flags and firing guns in the air. while our crews saw outgoing rockets and heard explosions in the hours leading up to the cease-fire deadline, they've seen little or no military activity since then only the celebrating. [ gunfire ] secretary of state hillary clinton and egypt's foreign minister announced the deal in cairo after the secretary spent the day in intense face-to-face talks with the leaders of israel, the palestinian authority and egypt. >> this is a critical moment for the region. egypt's new government is assuming the responsibility and

leadership it has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace. >> we're still learning details of the agreement between the israelis and hamas. egypt and the united states apparently have assumed important major roles in keeping the peace and preventing new supplies of rockets from being smuggled into gaza. president obama spoke by phone today with the leaders of both egypt and israel. >> translator: i have agreed with the president that israel and the united states would work together to prevent the smuggling of arms to the terror organizations. the vast majority of which comes from iran. >> throughout this crisis cnn has positioned crews throughout the region including correspondents in egypt and on both sides of the israeli/gaza border. the celebrations in gaza city right now apparently growing

larger and larger. let's go to arwa damon on the scene for us. set the scene, tell our viewers what's going on. >> reporter: well, wolf, if you were to look at the street below us 24 hours ago, you would have seen that it was utterly deserted. we're hearing sirens right now. and for the first time since this conflict began, it is not because they're heading to the scene of an air strike. there's a traffic jam down below. for some it is celebrating what they do view as being a victory for them. for others it is celebrating the fact that they quite simply are able to finally leave their homes for the first time since this all began. we were down there just a short while ago. entire families have packed themselves into their vehicles for the first time not because they are fleeing violence but quite simply because they can go outside without fear of perhaps being targeted in some sort of strike or finding themselves very close to where a strike was

going to be taking place. we spoke to one father who said his children had begged him the minute they heard the attacks were going to stop at the cease-fire, that the cease-fire was going to be implemented begging him just to take them outside because they had spent so many days cooped up indoors. many people at the same time saying they are concerned because this is very much as we have been reporting just the first initial step, the cease-fire still very much in its first few hours, wolf. >> how confident do you think the folks in gaza are, arwa, that this cease-fire will actually hold and produce results? >> reporter: in the short-term there is the sense that perhaps it will hold, but when it comes to the long-term issues, of course very few are holding onto much hope that this is going to somehow translate or turn into that long lasting peace agreement that this region has

really been struggling to establish for quite some time now to say the least. there is the sense amongst people that they are going to have to go through something similar at some point in time. but right now a lot of people saying that they're really just focusing on the moment. they have been through so much fear, anguish, sorrow, there's been so much loss, so much bloodshed, wolf, really in the last few days. we were just at the hospital earlier today where a doctor was carrying the body of a child and it was in fact his 2-year-old son. and there have been such incredibly difficult indescribable moments. gaza of urse is going to have to really invest in trying to rebuild after all of the destruction that we have been seeing here. but again, people right now really just living this moment, living the fact that they can for the first time go out into the streets and not be fearful that they are going to end up the victims of some sort of strike. >> it looks that among

palestinians -- and correct me if i'm wrong, arwa, at least in gaza and i assume elsewhere maybe throughout the arab world, hamas' stature has gone up as a result of this agreement. but you've been covering the story for a long time. what's your sense? >> reporter: well, i've been speaking to quite a few palestinians, and they do say hamas most certainly has emerged out of this to a certain degree perhaps more powerful than it has been in the past. to compare what we're seeing right now to what took place four years ago, the last time the israelis ended up launching a ground invasion into gaza, the mood is really very different. four years ago people were not celebrating when that conflict ended. now they are. there is the sense among some that this time around whether they like it or not, whether it was direct or indirect, the israeli government was forced into some sort of a negotiation with hamas, that hamas has been able to implement its own terms. >> arwa damon on the scene for

us. we'll check back with you. thank you. just before the cease-fire was supposed to start, cnn's team in the southern israeli city of ashkelon heard air raid sirens and saw incoming rockets. cnn's frederik pleitgen is on the scene there for us. fred, what are you hearing? what are you seeing about possibility violations? >> reporter: hi, wolf. yeah, we're hearing from the israeli defense forces that there have been at least two minor violations of the cease-fire. they're saying that at least two rockets were fired out of gaza. the information that we're getting is that these rockets either landed in an unpopulated area or in fact were intercepted by the iron dome missile defense system. of course we've been talking about so much over the past couple of days, by and large however it appears as though the cease-fire is holding. skies over ashkelon at this point in time are very quiet. however, wolf, one of the things you're not going to be seeing is what you just saw in arwa's report is people celebrating the cease-fire. in fact, we've been speaking to

people here in ashkelon and some of them say they're actually quite disappointed because they don't feel that their military has gotten the job done yet or that the leaders were giving the military enough time to get the job done. let's listen into what one man had to say. >> not only myself, many people here, many friends were talking a couple minutes about this situation. we here in israel don't believe it's going to be stop and quiet like this. we are here no believe this. this only political game. i don't know who. that's what i think. >> reporter: so wolf, this is of course something that people here in southern israel call mowing the lawn when they feel that their army, when their air force goes in and bombs gaza for a couple of weeks at some given point in time but hamas is still there and they think that's the root of the problem.

that possibly some months down the line they will be facing the same problems again. however, i do say i've been speaking to some people here on the ground who say peace and quiet for a while is good. and they are happy that the cease-fire now appears to be in place, wolf. >> so you're seeing people on the streets right now? they're coming out of their homes. are they celebrating the way they are in gaza? >> reporter: well, no, they're not. it's interesting though that you say that. there are some more people out on the streets now that we've seen though over the past couple of days and certainly than we've seen during the daytime. one of the thing we have to keep in mind that especially today was a pretty busy day here. there were a lot of rocket alarms here in ashkelon. we were actually out today with a squad that picks up the rockets after they've landed on the ground here. it's an explosive ordinance disposal unit and they had a lot to do. we had to go into shelter with this group six times alone today. so the people here on this last day of this conflict really had a very scary day. another thing to keep in mind is

especially people with children were keeping those children inside, indoors for the better part of all of this going on. of course it was very scary for the children as well. so, yes, we are indeed seeing some more people come out. we're seeing more cars on the street especially for these late evening hours. but certainly not the kind of celebrations that you'll be seeing in gaza city right now and that we're seeing from what ar arwa's reporting, wolf. >> frederik pleitgen in ashkelon in southern israel for us. thanks very much. let's bring in our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour, cnn anchor and also abc global news anchor. thanks very much. you had an exclusive interview today with the leader of hamas in cairo. this is before the agreement was announced. he's pretty upbeat about what's going on. he's made major commitments to egypt about what hamas is going to do. explain what's going on from

hamas' perspective. >> reporter: well, i was interviewing him as these cease-fire agreements were being finalized. and what he was saying is that what they want from their perspective is to have the blockade as they call it lifted, the siege of gaza lifted. and there's a possibility that some of that might happen. and some new easing of restrictions around gaza. and that will be important. they also don't want to have their leaders assassinated. so you remember that was one of the triggers for this whole back and forth that we've had over the last eight days or so. but i think from hamas' perspective and if you look at this situation, they certainly do come out standing quite tall. i mean, i don't think you can talk about winners or losers. a lot of people have died. who knows whether this is anything more than cementing it back to the status quo ante, but in terms of hamas which has the u.s. and israel have tried to isolate it for all these years over the last week or so we've

seen arab foreign ministers and leaders literally beating a path into gaza to go and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with hamas. this at the same time that egypt took that lead role and guaranteed and secured this cease-fire. so it's a very important significant moment. first time the new islamist government of egypt has been tested. hamas is now a force to be at least negotiated with rather than isolated. and we'll see whether this actually leads to something more than just a lull. >> what israeli officials say is that hamas made a commitment to the government in egypt, the president mohamed morsi, that they would stop firing into israel. if that were to be revoked, that would be a violation. they would be breaking their word to the egyptians and that would cause some serious repercussions i assume, christiane, between the egypt

government, muslim brotherhood-led government, and hamas. >> reporter: well, i was obviously talking about what's the perspective from this side was. but of course israel's demand was that there would be no more rockets and no more of that fire going into israel. that was something they really wanted. and of course israel does not want to see hamas resupplied through the tunnel network. that is still to be worked out. i asked him whether or not he got weapons and whether hamas was getting weapons from iran, and he gave me a non-confirmation confirmation. it's an open secret that they come through those tunnels. so that has to be taken in hand. we're not sure how that's going to happen, but obviously there is some egyptian role in that as well. but, yes, egypt is the guarantor of this cease-fire. neither side trusts each other. and both sides are going to be able to appeal to the guarantor, egypt, the united states and other regional powers who've been helping, but the lead is egypt. and interestingly, you know,

wolf, this is the first time israel's gone into an agreement with an islamist government, that is the new government of egypt. >> christiane amanpour reporting for us from cairo. thank you, christiane. we have reaction to the new cease-fire coming in from israeli officials. that's coming up next. i'll speak with the spokesman for prime minister benjamin netanyahu about a top hamas leader's claim that israel is now in his word bankrupt. we're also taking a closer look at what secretary of state hillary clinton's precise role in all of this has been, what her role has been in helping these sides reach an agreement. our special coverage continues right here in "the situation room." [ female announcer ] over every holiday season

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minister benjamin netanyahu says the past eight days on the terrorist organizations destroyed the facilities of hamas. but a short time ago a top hamas leader declared his organization remains strong and called israel bankrupt. >> translator: they wanted to destroy the infrastructure of the resistance in hamas. they are bankrupt. i don't deny they have done so much. we can count how many buildings they have destroyed and how many offices of the media they have destroyed and how many children they have killed, the family of the bashir they have killed and how many journalists and how many photographers they have killed just like you. we can count how many offices

and how many buildings they have destroyed. this is their accomplishment. they have nothing else to show. >> with me now is mark rega, mark, thanks very much for coming in. he says you are bankrupt -- israel is bankrupt. you have nothing to show for this. they are celebrating on the streets of gaza in wild celebration. they think is a huge win for hamas. >> i saw them celebrating in gaza. and i think they're celebrating because it's over. they're celebrating because we hit the hamas military machine hard. we attacked their commanding control. we destroyed their weapons depots. we hit their infrastructure of the hamas military machine. so they're of course relieved this is over. now, i hope it really is over. i hope this arrangement that's been negotiated very carefully with the egyptians and with the united states that this will hold, that we do get a long

period -- an extended period of quiet for the people of southern israel. but hamas should know if they violate this agreement, israel reserves the right once again to protect our people, to act to protect our people. >> and what exactly is the -- from your perspective, the israeli government's perspect e perspective, the precise commitment that hamas has made to egypt as part of this cease-fire? >> our understanding is clear. there has to be a total cessation of all hostile activity from gaza against israel. no rockets, no targeting our cities with rockets anymore. that's finished. no shooting across the border not at our farmers, policeman, soldiers posted on our side of the frontier. in other words, the total end of all hostile activity in gaza against israel. >> and what is your commitment as part of this agreement to hamas? >> it's very simple. if there's no violence from gaza towards israel, we don't have to respond. but that's not a problem for us. that's not even a concession. we've always said if it's quiet,

we have no reason to act to protect ourselves. >> will you take steps though to improve the condition of the palestinians in gaza? >> of course. you know, the people of gaza are not our enemies. our enemies are those people who shoot rockets at us. that's the hamas people, that's the other terrorist groups. the people in gaza are in many ways victims of this terrible authoritarian regime. we can work with aid organizations today to facilitate badly needed medical and food stuffs and so forth for gaza. and as we work with the egyptians, we can talk also about lessening the restrictions. >> no more targeted assassinations of hamas leaders? >> if they don't violate their understandings with the egyptians. in other words, if they keep things quiet, if they do not shoot rockets at our people, we will have no reason to act. >> this is a little more than two hours since the agreement went into effect. have there been any serious violations so far? >> the truth is i haven't heard of any. so i don't think we could

have -- i would have heard about it if there was. the proof of everything is in the eating. and as ronald reagan said once famously when talking about negotiations with gosh chof, trust but verify. we'll watch what hamas does carefully. >> this does bode well for the israeli/egyptian relationship which has been severely strained in recent months. >> i hope so. we have a new government in egypt. >> is egypt sending back its ambassador to tel aviv? >> i'm not aware yet. i hope they would. >> is that part of the agreement? >> i'm not aware. but i can say the following, we've got a new government in egypt. and we've got an old peace treaty. we want them to go together well. we're committed to maintaining peace with egypt. it serves both sides of cairo and jerusalem. and we want to see that peace treaty strengthened. >> what assurances did you, the prime minister of israel -- you're not the prime minister, but prime minister netanyahu,

get from president obama and secretary of state hillary clinton as far as u.s. support for israel as part of this framework agreement? >> we heard and received very strong support from the united states during this whole crisis. the americans were unequivocal. they said the rockets from gaza have to stop. there's no excuse for them. no justification whatsoever. they said in trying to defend our people israel was acting in legitimate self-defense. we heard that very clearly from the american side. but it wasn't just words. that iron dome system, that anti-missile system -- you know, hamas had a whole series of these long-range rockets given to them by round that could have killed many, many israelis, but because of land dome, this joint american/israel project which america has contributed to and we thank them for it, that's made us come through this crisis with the minimum casualties, it saved lives and we thank america

for it. >> is there a u.s. role sparse you know that would prevent iranian weapons being smuggled or brought into gaza? >> you're 100% correct. the challenge will be now how do you prevent iran from sending more weapons to hamas? because hamas' weapons today have been drastically depleted. >> will the u.s. get involved in that? >> i think so. >> how? >> we have to work with america and other members of the national community and regional actors as well. >> is egypt on board? >> i hope so. ultimately it must be remembered iran and gaza don't have a common border. and if we can intercept weapon shipments to gaza preventing them from arriving at gaza into the hands of the tourists, that's the best thing we can do. >> from what we heard from the prime minister, your body language, from others, you're pretty upbeat that this might work. >> i'm upbeat that there's a cease-fire and it's quiet and that this conflict is over.

but i do know the following, hamas is a very determined enemy. and this could fall apart. i'm grateful that we now have a time-out that life can go back to normal. and i can assure you israel will standby our obligations in the framework of these understanding. i think these understands which the egyptians have proposed form a basis that i hope can bring a long period of peace and quiet for the people of southern israel who deserve to live a normal life. i saw your report from earlier today. you were with that family in the south and you saw those little children who were saved because they went into the secure room. it was that incoming rocket that destroyed the house. too many israeli families had to live that way for too long now. and hopefully this understandings -- these understandings the egyptians have put on the table, they will bring normal life to the people of southern israel. and, wolf, that's the most

important thing. this whole operation was fought for one goal and one goal only, to bring peace and quiet to our population in the south. and i think this can help do it. >> one final question. is there any indication you've seen so far that hamas will change its long standing position, accept israel's right to exist, renounce terrorism, accept previous palestinian/israeli agreements and become a member of the international diplomatic community? >> unfortunately there's no hope for that situation. we saw that today. >> but if they change their position, you would be willing to recognize -- >> except for the three benchmarks the united states put on the table, recognize my country's right to exist, abandon terrorism, support peace. that's a different hamas. but what made me very skeptical, today when there was the bombing in tel aviv. the hamas leadership said this is a good thing. they justified and praised the

bomber. that doesn't show a reformed organization i think. that shows the opposite. they seem to be stuck in a very radical extreme outlook. >> mark regev, thanks very much. >> my pleasure. >> let's hope this cease-fire works. appreciate it. up ahead we're going to take you live to the streets of tel aviv. cnn's sara sidner has the investigation into the bus bombing that injured dozens of people in tel aviv. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters,

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before the israeli/hamas cease-fire was announced just a couple hours or so ago, the conflict took an ominous turn. a bomb went off aboard a regular commercial bus today injuring 25 people.

cnn's international correspondent sara sidner's in tel aviv. she's watching what's going on. first of all, sara, what's the latest on the investigation? >> reporter: we know there are suspects being sought as we speak. we talked to the police who were looking for suspects in this case. we also know that of the people who went to the hospital, five people remain in the hospital too with very serious injures. one doctors were trying to save a limb because there was so much of a blast to the arm that they weren't sure they were going to be able to save the limb of a teenager. another teenager with extreme shrapnel to the face. they were trying to remove the shrapnel. the doctor's very concerned both will have to live a bit of a difficult life and have these injuries that will affect the rest of their lives. as far as what is happening with the bus and with the investigation, police still do not have anyone who has claimed responsibility for that blast, wolf. >> you've been on the streets of

tel aviv all day now. what are the folks saying about the cease-fire? >> reporter: well, i want to let you hear. when we went to the scene there was a lot of chaos and people trying to figure out what was going on. we met one of the people who happened to be there and it was a volunteer first responder. we talked to him a little bit about what the cease-fire would mean and they were in the midst of trying to get to a cease-fire. i want to let you hear what he said. and what he said some of the victims of this bombing had told him as he was helping them to the hospital. >> go forward. don't stop. go inside gaza and finish the job. please, go forward. >> reporter: so you heard there some of these victims and he himself talking about that they wanted prime minister -- he was saying bebe but prime minister netanyahu to go forward and to

finish this off meaning even if it's a ground war, they don't ever want to deal with this again. we've heard a lot of people in tel aviv that they really want a permanent solution. that the cease-fire is fine. it's good to stop the ratcheting up of violence, but they want to see something permanent. there's a lot of frustration every time another rocket comes over and there's a response as well. so a lot of frustration on the part of people. but i think in general there are quite a few people just happy to see that this did not go into something like a ground war and hoping that the cease-fire holds. just really i think people are exhausted with the stress that having to deal with some of these rockets that come over into southern israel has on them. >> and you've seen that stress on both sides, sara. spent several days in gaza before coming back to israel, you were in the south, you've seen israelis who were scared frightened, you've seen

palestinians. sara, you've done an excellent amount of reporting for us. and we're grateful, our viewers in the united states and around the world are grateful as well. sara sidner is our jerusalem correspondent. with the gaza cease-fire taking hold, we're going to take a closer look at what the united states and specifically the secretary of state hillary clinton did in particular to make all of this happen. there are also other new developments happening right now. stay with us. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- what starts with adding a friend... ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. we have new information just coming into "the situation room" from the white house on the cease-fire negotiations that happened. cnn's jill dougherty is standing by over at the white house. jill, what are you learning about the president's role in all of this? >> reporter: well, wolf, i was talking to a senior administration official. and as you might expect, they are praising the president's role. in fact, this official said that it's fair to say that the president's two calls today -- that would be to prime minister

netanyahu and to egyptian president morsi, closed the deal as this official said. they also praised secretary clinton saying that she did an exceptional job. but again going back to what they are saying as mr. obama was very directly involved. one of the things also, wolf, that they're pointing at that i think will prove to be very important is this burgeoning relationship with the egyptian president morsi. i mean, just think of it. just a short time ago he was the new man on the block, muslim brotherhood, lots of doubts about him. and now look at the words that the president used. there's a lot of praise for his personal role in bringing about this cease-fire. that could go a long way. in fact, they say that he was very pragmatic. that's president morsi, very pragmatic. they developed a relationship they say based on trust and were able to work through these issues. so down the road that's going to

be important, wolf. >> basically the bottom line in all of this is that the u.s. is also, jill, provided some assurances to both the israeli government of prime minister netanyahu and the egyptian government of president morsi. are you learning any specific arrangements? any economic, financial, military, political assurances that president obama and secretary state clinton provided israel and egypt? >> reporter: well of course let's start with israel. number one, that would be helping to stop weapons smuggling which is coming into gaza from iran. that would be very important. also, more funding for the iron dome program which has protected a lot of israeli lives. you'd also have to say i think on egypt there are a number of things that egypt got out of it. this praise actually can have some political benefit because don't forget not so long ago up on capitol hill there were a lot of people calling for cutting

funding to the egyptians who had held some nongovernmental organization people. remember not so long ago. and this praise could help maybe inoculate president morsi from some of that anger that was up on capitol hill. and that means money. because after all, the united states provides $450 million every year for egypt. and then hamas, i kept thinking what does hamas get out of it? hamas even though you wouldn't say there's certainly nothing like what everybody else is getting, but they do get in a p.r. sense they get to say to the islamic world we took the fight to israel. even if in the long run it ends in a cease-fire, symbolically they stood up. that strengthens their position visavee mahmoud abass looking very, very weak in all of this,

wolf. >> jill dougherty at the white house for us with some good reporting. jill, thanks very much. anderson cooper has left gaza and is now here in jerusalem. he's standing by to join me in our next hour. anderson knows what's going on. he's seen this conflict over the past few days up close. we're going to get his take on the cease-fire not even three hours old yet. what's going on? anderson cooper will be here with me. also, my interview with israel's president shimon perez, what he makes of the many challenges facing israel right now. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party.

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just before the israeli/hamas cease-fire agreement took effect today, i sat down and spoke with the israeli president shimon peres here in jerusalem. we talked about the long-range challenge to the true peace in the middle east including the civil war ongoing in syria right across the border from israel. >> it's a concentration of chemical weapons. >> are they secure right now? >> they're under the control of assad. i'm not sure they are secure. i wouldn't trust him very much. and they get missiles from iran. and some people say it's okay. what do they mean okay? they're collectors of missiles. they shoot them against civilian life in tel aviv. look, the world must also take a clear position to say it is

disproportionate israeli reaction and shooting at israelis proportionate. after israel left gaza, how long can they destroy any chance for reason and peace? >> what's the role of iran that is playing right now behind the scenes in gaza? >> iran it feels competing with egypt. they want to win -- their chance is to have the more extreme on their side. so they support not only hamas but also the jihad. >> islamic jihad? >> islamic jihad in gaza. so the islamic jihad also to be more extreme. other problems in gaza is there's nobody rules it. there's a competition among four or five different groups. many other groups. and they're competing. and iran is supplying arms to all of them.

>> so who do you negotiate with the cease-fire with? >> hamas has to take charge otherwise they don't have a future. >> can they? >> i think yes. they don't have a choice. the others too if hamas will take a position, the people in gaza will say to those others, stop it. what are you doing to us? there are people in gaza too. and none of us want to see them suffering. doesn't give us any pleasure. >> we'll have much more of my interview with the israeli president shimon peres a little later here in "the situation room." among other things, we speak about his own political future. he's approaching, get this, he's almost 90 years old but is in amazing, amazing shape. he's got some tips for all of our viewers how to stay alert and healthy as you get to be 89, almost 90 years old. more of the interview with

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you're looking at a live picture of gaza city right now. about 11:50 p.m. there. a night of celebrations after this cease-fire has been declared. joining me for today's strategy session cnn contributor, former bush speech writer david frum and also the author of "why romney lost." and former al gore campaign manager, donna brazile, thanks

very much for coming in. early happy thanksgiving to you. >> you as well. >> we've watched all this and hillary clinton and her shuttle diplomacy moving between ramala and cairo and jerusalem, but you have to ask though given the disaster in benghazi, does she need to sort of rehabilitate her record, if you will? and is she doing that effectively with this agreement in the middle east, donna? >> hopefully we'll look at the totality of her record. she's been secretary of state for the last four years. she's traveled hundreds of thousands of miles over the last four years. you know, during her first few weeks on the job, she phoned every world leader to reset relations. i think she's been a phenomenal secretary of state whether it's negotiating the cards with turkey and armenia, the situation in libya before the terrible tragedy in benghazi. she will go down in history as one of the best secretaries of states. and i have no doubt in my mind that the role she played over

the last 48 hours was crucial in getting a cease-fire. >> david, are you surprised at the role this new egyptian government has played in this agreement? >> their role has been crucial. and they've been under a lot of pressure. i think the key switching point in this negotiation was -- occurred i guess the day before yesterday when egypt signed with the international monetary fund an agreement to lend $4.8 billion to egypt. the egyptian economy is a wreck. they have lost their tourist dollars. egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat. the population is growing by a million people a year. they are completely dependent on outside aid. this government took power at the beginning of the year. and since then the flow of rocket materials into gaza has accelerated as has the firing of rockets. so it looks to what have happened is this, that the new government began by allowing hamas more room to behave destructively. then they ran out of money. then they went to the imf, and the imf squeezed them. they said, if you want the

money, the rockets stop. and it looked like they got the money on thursday. -- sorry, two days ago, and the rockets are stopping today. >> now, to talk about a long-term solution, a lot of discussion has involved the former president bill clinton. wolf talked just a little while ago today in fact to middle east peace envoy -- the former middle east peace envoy george mitchell. here's what he had to say about the possibility of involving the former president in a long-term solution. listen. >> president clinton is highly respected in the region and on both sides. and he certainly would be a credible choice. i don't think however it ought to be limited to him in case he weren't able to do it. i don't think you want to create the impression that whoever the president does name if anyone is therefore sort of a second choice or doesn't enjoy the confidence of president obama. >> donna, do you think bill clinton would be a good choice? do you think he'd want to do it? and if he didn't, who do you think would be a good second choice? >> well, tony blair has also

played a constructive role. i mean, i believe that all hands on deck. i mean, george mitchell, former senator mitchell also has been instrumental in this whole process. we need to bring as many players to the table to get both sides. but i agree we have to get hamas to renounce violence, to recognize israel's existence and to follow the u.n. benchmarks. and that's going to take time for president morsi, egyptian president morsi, to ensure hamas live up to its agreement especially with the cease-fire. >> david, who would you send? >> i don't think it matters. i don't think this is about personalities. this is a structural conflict. and peace will come when -- the kind of peace we're talking about will come when the palestinians make a strategic decision for peace. but what we can look forward to in the interim because that day is probably a long way off are a series of measures for better security. reinforcement of the wall, better separation of the israelis from the palestinians

and tight policing of the flow of weaponry into gaza and better economic conditions for the palestinian population. many of whom are radicalized by unnecessary economic hardship. >> all right. i want to thank both of you for coming in today. once again happy thanksgiving to you. now we're going to go back to wolf blitzer who's in jerusalem. so how is that cease-fire holding up, wolf? >> so far it's holding up, joe. let's hope for the best. if it does hold up, that would be excellent news for a lot of people in gaza as well as in israel. but we're watching it very closely. don't want to get our expectations and our hopes overly, overly optimistic. up ahead in our next hour, so what happens to the rockets fired at israel after they're taken out by the iron dome anti-missile system? we have the details. that's coming up in a live report from ashkelon in southern israel. plus, the celebrations right now continuing on the streets of gaza. they're crowded. we're going back live for the latest on the cease-fire.

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, a cease-fire between israel and hamas ends eight days of deadly fighting. has it really though come to a halt? will it hold? what the u.s. promised israel and egypt in order to get an agreement between israel and hamas. also a closer look at the man called hamas' military genius and why some say it was a mistake for israel to take him out. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem, you're in "the situation room."

midnight now here in jerusalem. and this agreement appears to be holding, at least for now. an agreement between israel and hamas, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu calls it the right thing for israel but warns additional military measures might be needed if the cease-fire breaks down and leads to security problems for israel. the leader of hamas claims the cease-fire is a victory for his organization. >> translator: we want the entire world to understand our people and our cause. and through you we can explain the faces -- the pale faces of the leaders because they have failed in their attempt.

>> the cease-fire agreement brought celebratory gunfire in gaza where 142 people have been killed in the fighting. cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman is standing by. he's on the scene for us on the streets of gaza. we're watching what's going on very, very closely. so far so good. no major violations of the cease-fire agreement that was brokered between israel and hamas thanks to the direct involvement -- the direct involvement of egypt and egypt's president mohamed morsi. you're looking at live pictures right now from the streets of cairo. let's go to ben wedeman. he's on the scene for us. ben, what's it like there? we know we heard a lot of celebratory gunfire, a lot of people on the streets. >> reporter: yeah. a huge celebration.

i've never seen such a large celebration in gaza. really it sort of gradually grew. at first it appears people were waiting to make sure that the cease-fire did in fact hold for a little while. and then we started hearing a bit of gunfire and then seen more cars in the street. and of course now it's been going on for quite some time. many of them they're more sort of up the road toward the center of the city, celebratory gunfire very much a feeling here on the streets of gaza that they did indeed emerge victorious from these eight days of bombardment coming both ways, wolf. >> i said celebratory gunfire on the streets of israel but it's gaza. they want to allow people to come in, palestinians to leave,

are we likely to see any of that in the immediate future as a result of this cease-fire agreement, ben? >> reporter: well, looking at the agreement it appears that those details, the opening of crossings and the movement of people still need to be worked out. really the agreement was about agreeing to discuss these issues once it's clear that the cease-fire can indeed hold. but there are lots of important concessions in a sense that hamas won as a result of this agreement. there's a guarantee or a commitment by israel not to target palestinian militants within gaza itself. that's something of course that led to the beginning of this outbreak of fighting eight days ago with the targeted assassination of the leader of

hamas' military wing. it also talks about freedom of movement and also refers to the buffer zones around the edges of gaza. so for hamas it really does represent something of a change. they've been able to in a sense dictate terms to israel that do make their lives -- the lives of hamas leaders and the hamas government here in gaza somewhat easier. >> yeah. there's no doubt that hamas sees this as a major political win for hamas. ben wedeman, we'll get back to you. let's get a little more now on the cease-fire. joining us is lieutenant colonel avital leibovich, thanks once again for coming in. what is your understanding right now of the cease-fire agreement from the israeli military's perspective? the mobilization of reservists who were poised on the border with tanks, armored personnel

carriers potentially to go in on the ground, are you going to ease that now? are the troops going to go back to civilian life? >> well, the troops are still there. we'll have to decide tomorrow -- we'll see how the night goes on and then decide what to do with them tomorrow. i can tell you that since the cease-fire was declared, already five rockets that were fired from gaza. >> five rockets since -- >> right. >> with a serious incidence? >> two were intercepted. three of them landed in some urban areas. >> do you consider these major violations or minor violations of the cease-fire agreement? >> i think that the current -- the next weeks and days will tell us exactly where we are. in meaning of deterrence. i suggest we need to wait. every little minor incident, a rocket here, a rocket there, we have to wait and see where it takes us. >> you know there's hamas, but there are some other organizations, islamic jihad, other terrorist organizations in gaza that may not necessarily be part of this agreement. is that your understanding as well? >> well, since hamas is controlling the gaza strip,

hamas is accountable for anything that goes on meaning hamas needs to control these other organizations that actually have been challenging hamas for the past couple of years. >> so is it your understanding that these five violations that you've now counted were hamas violations or other splinter organizations in gaza may have been responsible for those rocket attacks? >> i think these are minor events. but should a launching squad try to launch a rocket towards israel, we will target that launching squad. we won't initiate any operational activity in gaza since we are respecting the cease-fire. but we still need to defend ourselves. >> you'll monitor what's going on. i assume those israeli drones will continue to fly over. are they allowed to fly over gaza as part of this cease-fire agreement? >> let's not get into operational details, but the iron dome batteries are not going anywhere for now. >> well, those are the anti-missile systems if a rocket comes in they can intercept and destroy that missile in air.

>> right. >> but the surveillance drones, you don't want to talk about whether or not this agreement allows you to fly over gaza to continue to watch what's going on? >> i don't want to talk about the intelligence aspects although during the operation we had very nice achievements. and you can understand that we had very good intelligence since we did find a very big amount of launchers that were underground. so the intelligence was really of high quality. and overall i can tell you that we are very happy, very satisfied with the achievements that we had in this operation. >> the israeli military, what will be its role right now in opening up gaza a little bit? because as you know the palestinians who have lived there, 1.5 million or 1.7 million of them, they would like to have greater access to the outside world, more products coming in. are you going to ease that situation right now? >> well, actually that situation has been eased already from a couple years ago. >> they don't feel it necessarily. the palestinians complain bitterly they say they're in a prison. >> well, i saw some interesting

story this morning with pictures from the market -- one of the markets in gaza, it was filled with fruit and vegetables. and basically you see people shopping. so there is no crisis in gaza. however in distent some things are not convenient. truckloads have been going in also in the past eight days, hundreds of them. >> what about the iranian weapons that have been coming into gaza? what will be the new role that egypt plays, hamas plays, if the u.s. is involved, in preventing those kinds of weapons from coming into gaza? >> iran is trying to influence a lot inside gaza. i can tell you something that maybe was not even told until now, even during the operation iran went through great efforts to try and push ahead long-range rockets into gaza. when iran saw the effect these long-range rockets have on the israeli population -- >> they were reaching tel aviv. >> they were reaching tel aviv and the outskirts of jerusalem, it tried during the operation

itself to push more and more rockets into the gaza strip? >> what happened to them? >> we are monitoring. >> what does that mean? >> it means we know iran is deeply involved with hamas inside gaza just like it's involved with hezbollah. we are seeing here very similar patterns. >> did those weapons reach hamas and gaza over these past few days? >> well, wu know the five rockets reached, that was before. as far as we know they did not reach. but they were great efforts on the part of iran. now, we have to monitor those efforts for the future of course. for our safety. >> i assume those tens of thousands of israeli soldier who is are poised and still are on the border ready to go into urban conflict, if you will in a ground invasion, they must be pretty relieved about this cease-fire. >> maybe they're relieved. but they're also -- they also understand the mission. this is a small country. this is the only country we have. and these soldiers were waiting to defend this country. and by the way, they were training for these couple of

days. they were not just sitting there outside waiting for a decision. so we took advantage of the fact they were there to train them and to see that they're ready for the mission. >> so we'll see what happens. are you confident? are you upbeat, optimistic that it's going to work? >> i'm personally an optimistic person. but i think that the couple of weeks, the next couple of weeks will show us exactly where we're going. >> let's hope it works. avital leibovich, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. cnn's anderson cooper has been covering this crisis for us. he's been in gaza for the past few days but he's now here in jerusalem with me. he's going to be joining us when we come back. also, the possibility of a bigger u.s. military role in the region. we're going to talk to the pentagon and get some new details. by not breaking down. consider the silverado 1500 -- still the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. and now we've also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership --

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we just heard from the israeli military. there have been some minor violations, they say five rockets coming in. they say that's minor. they're watching it closely. anderson cooper is here in jerusalem now. you spent the last few days there. what was it like? >> it's obviously intense. you can't help but go there and notice there is no such thing as regular life. and shops are closed, people are hiding indoors. and it's, you know, for everyday people, they just want it to end. they're not necessarily hugely supporters of hamas even though hamas is democratically elected. there's a lot of people who just want a solution and want to get on with their lives and be able to feed their families. unemployment is ridiculously high. 40%. it could be a great city. it's got a coastline, beaches. and yet it is -- there's just no such thing as regular life. >> so when we see them on the streets right now celebratory gunfire, they're so happy, they're smiling, they're

relieved this is at least for now over. >> and to even be relieved to be out of their homes. i have not seen the streets crowded like that. streets were virtually empty. if you drive at all at night, you drive extremely fast. you never know where a rocket's going to go because you never knew where hamas may be, where they may have an installation or office. i think one of the most disturbing images i saw and i want to warn viewers we have images that we'll show you but it is very disturbing to watch, a group of hamas men on motorcycles dragging the body of an alleged collaborator down a main street in gaza city. >> an israeli collaborator. >> allegedly, yes. >> palestinians but somebody they accused of working with the israelis. >> and clearly israel has a network of spies who give them on the ground information. that helps them in their targeting tracking people's movements and who owns what houses. but to see this person being dragged down a main street while these men on motorcycles are yelling god is great and yelling out that he was a spy, it brings

home that this is a place that there is not a rule of law. and it is obviously the divisions are clear. >> we saw explosions literally not far from you, we saw you ducking, ben wedeman, arwa damon, sara sidner, they were pretty close to you. >> yeah, very close. we were standing in front of an open window like this and you could feel the shock waves, the blast waves through your body. >> really? >> the windows rattled, the building itself would shake. we're talking, you know, a block away, two or three or four or five blocks away. it's startling. ben wedeman is much made of sturdier stuff and i and was able to stand without ducking quite so much as i did. but it really brings home to you what it's like for gazans. >> you can only imagine the terror these people were feeling. >> oh, it was terrifying. and we were there for three nights. i was able to leave. they don't have any other place

to go. >> when you got out you got out through a process through israel. >> yes, it's very laborious. >> it's very restricted. >> it is. you give him a passport, he writes it down in a spiral notebook, that's it, there's no stamp. you take a series of taxis to the border where you get out and you go through a series of checkpoints where you don't run in -- there's no actual people that you interact with because they're afraid obviously -- israeli officials are concerned about people bringing explosive devices in. so it's kind of a step by step process. there's all these surveillance cameras around. you lay out all your bags. they get a sense of who you are. they electronically open a door, walk into another room and move your bags into that room, they get a closer look on the ctv camera, you then take off your belt and you put your bags on a giant conveyer belt, there's a giant x-ray machine. they disappear.

you then basically strip down off your belt. you go through several metal detectors, a full body scanner, and you're gradually systemically allowed to cross over into israel. they then hand go through all your bags -- >> the israelis do? >> the israelis at gunpoint going through your bags very methodically and gone through x-ray machines. they then hand it back, get your passport stamped and you're on your way. all the while you hear rockets going off very close by. in some cases some being fired from israeli positions, some being fired toward israel. >> it's not as if there are united nations personnel monitoring this border crossing if you will. >> no. it's a very surreal system where you actually don't run into any human beings for several steps of the process. it's all done through surveillance cameras, through doors being electronically opened for you and gradually, you know, the closer you get with each door that you go

through you're one step closer toward israel and one step, you know -- they've examined you one step further. it's a fascinating system to see up close. >> yeah. at some point -- and you were there for three, four, five days? >> right. >> you must have been scared out of your mind. >> you know, you're definitely in a heightened state of awareness. i wouldn't say scared because i've been in a lot of these areas over the years. but it's always shocking to see the conditions that people are forced to live in in a war zone. and to see what life is like for somebody and who's the only difference between them and myself is the accident of birth and what zip code they were born into and that has determined what their life is like and what their ability is to get a job and to move upward. >> now, you're constantly hearing -- the days you were there, shells going off. >> yeah. >> it's loud thunderous noise. could you get any sleep? >> you know, i've been -- starting way back in sarajevo

and after a time, you just ignore it. you will just be paranoid about it at all times. unlike the siege where ser bs were lobbing mortars unlike syria where -- there is targeting involved in, you know, where the israelis are striking. you can make arguments about whether it's effective or not. people will take me to task for this, but even gazans will tell you i've stood with many gazans watching bombs going into buildings and they were taking pictures. they had a sense of this is nonindiscriminate, it's the correct target whether women and children are going to get killed in the process, that is going to happen. but it's not that sense of, you know, indiscriminate. the flip side is you never know where an alleged hamas person may be, where they may have an

office in a building like this, do they have an office on the floor below you? you don't know. israel considers that a target. if they file missiles into your building, you could very easily get killed. >> did they have any clue when you walked around the streets you were wearing body armor and a helmet, did these folks know who you were? >> i think some people did. cnn is seen around the world. >> is cnn in gaza? >> a lot of them right now didn't have electricity. i think some people had satellite dishes and able to see it. but you try -- i actually didn't wear body armor all the time just because -- >> i saw some pictures of you wearing it. >> in some cases you would, and in other times you didn't. a lot had to do if i was interacting with people who did not -- just regular people, i generally don't wear body armor because i think it sends the wrong message. if i'm asking people to tell me their story and to feel -- i feel like i should be taking a risk with them. >> i'm glad you got out safe and sound. you're going to have more coming up later tonight.

>> that's right. 8:00 and 10:00 eastern in the u.s. >> we'll be watching. >> thanks. >> andserson, thanks very much for the excellent work. disturbing signs of deadly crisis in syria actually is boiling over in the middle east. up next, we're going to tell you why one neighboring country is now asking nato for missiles. stay with us, you're in "the situation room." ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] [ male announcer ] can a car be built around a state of mind? ♪ announcing the all-new 2013 malibu from chevrolet. ♪ with a remarkable new interior featuring the available

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we'll get back to wolf in jerusalem in just a moment. but first, disturbing new signs the deadly crisis in syria is escalating. our lisa sylvester's monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what do you have? >> hi there, joe. turkey is asking nato for patriot missiles to help bolster air defenses after violence from syria. a letter to the alliance cites

threats the crisis poses to turkey's national security. last month syrian artillery shells killed five civilians. nato is convening to consider the matter and send a team to turkey to look at possible missile deployment sites. and jesse jackson jr. is resigning from congress. the son of the civil rights leader the reverend jesse jackson has been out for months on what he calls several serious health issues. he's also being investigated by the fbi and house ethics committee. he submitted his letter of resignation to house speaker john boehner just a little more than two weeks after winning re-election. and an extraordinary moment in basketball. a great game would be a player scoring in the high double digits. but what about scoring in, get this, the triple digits? that's what grinnel colleges jack turner did.

his teammates kept passing him the ball. grinnell college sophomore jack taylor kept sinking it. again and again and again. 138 points against faith baptist bible college topping the national record that has stood for more than five decades. >> coming into the game, my teammates and my coaches wanted to get me some more shots to try to get my confidence going before we enter conference play. and so i knew i was going to get a few more shots than usual. >> at halftime he had 58 points. his second half even better with 80 points. >> there's a point in the second half where i hit seven or eight threes in a row on consecutive possessions. and at that moment i kind of knew something special was happening. >> taylor thanks his teammates for their unselfishness, but you can also credit grinnell's coach and signature coaching system includes going heavy on the

three-pointers and not worrying about giving up a two-pointer on the other side. in fact, the losing team's top scorer had 70 points. a high scoring game that caught the eye of american university's head basketball coach. >> very few teams can score 138 points. for an individual to score 138, that was pretty remarkable. >> does he expect a repeat performance? >> i doubt it. i think this might be a once in a lifetime experience where, you know, i was just in the zone for an extended period of time. >> that's certainly an understatement. well, even the lakers superstar kobe bryant was impressed with taylor's performance. i asked him what next, he says after he graduates he would like to play professional basketball maybe with one of the overseas leagues. >> in the zone. that's one way of putting it i guess. >> 138 points for one individual. and you know, 80 points, that was just the second half of the game. >> that's incredible. >> pretty impressive.

>> wow. thanks so much, lisa. we're going back to wolf in jerusalem. new details of what the u.s. had to promise before israel signed on to the cease-fire with hamas. this december, remember -- ] you can stay in and share something... or you can get out there and actually share something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details

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i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. u.s. made some substantial promises to israel before it would sign the cease-fire agreement with hamas. our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has been learning some of the details. what are you picking up, chris? >> well, wolf, it appears that the u.s. literally helped pay for this cease-fire deal. the president promising israel that the u.s. would help it try to intensify efforts to shore-up the security around those tunnels where a lot of those weapons were flowing from egypt into gaza and being used against israel. basically what we know is that a lot of those weapons have been illegally smuggled through that tunnel. the u.s. promising to step up efforts to help israel deal with

the security situation there. as you recall, wolf, a few minutes ago an israeli army spokeswoman told you just in this last week iran was still trying to get weapons through that tunnel into the hands of militants there. but they were unsuccessful. some of this aid may take the form of giving money to egypt to help them on their end. we know that about five years ago the u.s. military aid over $20 million went to egypt. they even sent a team of u.s. army corps of engineers to help train the egyptians, help them use some of that ground penetrating radar. but as you can see, it still hasn't paid off. those tunnels are still active. so it remains to be seen, wolf, exactly how much can be done on that front. the u.s. also promising to expand its contribution to israel's iron dome to request more funding. but this is coming after the u.s. is already picked up a pretty big tab for that.

earlier this summer the president authorized another $70 million to israel's missile defense. this comes after $200 million authorized just a couple years ago. if you look at the defense authorization bill coming out for next year, over the next three years the u.s. will be putting in well over $600 million into funding israel's iron dome. >> yeah. the israelis are grateful for that. they keep pointing out how many lives that saved here in israel. chris lawrence, thanks very much. let's get a little more now on the iranian weapons that have been smuggled into hamas. our cnn's reza sayah is joining us from cairo right now. what role will egypt play based on what you're hearing on stopping the iranian weapons from being smuggled into gaza? >> reporter: well, that's going to be their next challenge. the next challenge for this new government here in cairo and i think the world is going to be watching to see how effectively they crackdown.

first off, we should clarify hamas's position when it comes to these weapons. hamas's position is that they're taking on one of the most powerful military forces in the region backed by a superpower in the u.s. and they're going to try anything they can to get their hands on any kind of weapons to make it a fair fight. indeed many of their smuggled weapons come through the sinai territory in egypt to go through southern gaza through the crossing and these tunnels. they don't seem to be getting smuggled in with egypt's cooperation. but now certainly there's going to be tremendous pressure from the west on egypt to crackdown. and it's going to be another balancing act for cairo. on one hand they're going to need to publicly at least show their support for hamas. on the other hand they're going to be pressured from western governments for cairo to crackdown. it's going to be a challenge for them in the months and years to come. wolf. >> the u.s., the israelis, a lot of folks are praising the egyptian president mohamed morsi

for his role in these negotiations. how involved was he? >> reporter: he was very involved. and i think when these types of conflicts come to an end, whoever takes the podium and announces the cease-fire usually gets credit for the cease-fire. and indeed it was washington and cairo. this was by many measures a test for egypt, the new government, the new islamist government, the muslim brotherhood, president mohamed morsi, remember there was a lot of concern and alarm from western capitals, washington, when this government took over. a lot of questions, would they take a significantly tougher stance against israel? would they give material support to hamas? none of that happened. and it looks like they made a calculated decision, cairo did, to play the role of peacemaker in an effort to maintain their peace treaty with israel and maintain their alliances with western power and washington

countries. they're going to depend on economically to recover. in the end the way things stand right now, they came out looking pretty good. but there's a long way to go in this conflict. and many will be watching to see what role they continue to play, wolf. >> earlier today, reza, i spoke with the israeli president shimon peres, he spoke highly of president morsi in that interview with me. we're going to air it in our next hour. but what's the feeling there in egypt about morsi's relationship with israel? >> reporter: well, i think some people expected this muslim brotherhood government to come in and take a tougher stance against the israelis and show more material support for hamas. but clearly this was a government led by egyptian president mohamed morsi that wanted to maintain its stature, maintain its credibility within the international community. and i think they made the decision that if they came out and aggressively and materially

showed their support for hamas, they would lose some of that stature. so that's the decision they made. and i think that's why they're getting a lot of credit from u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton and other world leaders. >> i think they're going to get a lot more than just credit. they're going to get some economic and military assistance, diplomatic support in the process as well. reza sayah from cairo, thank you. a leader some say unlike any hamas has ever seen. just ahead we're going to show you how the group gained some of the military strength it has today. [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time,

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the united states could now be considering sending more military power into the middle

east in the wake of this latest wave of violence. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what are you learning, barbara? >> well, wolf, a number of senior u.s. military officials tell us there are now discussions here inside the pentagon at very top levels about whether more military power is needed in the region because of the instability. one official telling us this is post-benghazi. the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. and now in addition problems of rising tensions all over the region, syria, israel, gaza, egypt. look at that map. that tells you exactly where this all starts. rota, spain. the u.s. navy already has plans in the works to send four warships to be deployed out of rota starting early next year just weeks away. those four ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles from iran. three amphibious warships are staying on station in the eastern med. a lot of discussion now we are

told about what is needed. the e wa gee ma along with helicopters, v-22 aircraft, 2,000 marines on board. all of this now the discussion with all of this going on, what is needed in the region? what is the requirement? what should the military have there? wolf. >> is anyone seriously looking though at actual combat operations, barbara? >> i think that's absolutely the crucial question, wolf. right now we're told no. there may be a lot of fire power going to the region, but no. they're not looking at combat operations. what they are looking at is sending a very clear message once again to the region that the u.s. military is present. look for more training, more exercises with countries in that region. look for humanitarian assistance.

but also if it were to come to that, this is the kind of capability that could do a couple of crucial things, fire against iranian ballistic missiles and those amphibious warships could help americans get out of trouble if it came to that, wolf. >> all right. barbara, thanks for that report. more than 1,000 rockets have rained down on israel in the last week or so. many of them intercepted in midair. up next, we're going to show you what's been happening after -- repeat, after the iron dome system takes them out. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

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many of the rockets that rained down during the past week here in israel were taken out by the country's sophisticated iron

dome system. but intercepting this is only part of the process. what's left still has to be cleaned up and properly disposed of. cnn's frederik pleitgen spent some time doing just that. he's joining us now with details. fred. >> reporter: yeah, wolf. they send these explosive ordinance disposal units that come from israel's police out to get what's left of these rockets. not just the ones that are intercepts but also the ones that still fall in urban areas. because of course the explosive residue and other parts have to be cleared away so that the area is safe for the civilians. we road along with one of these units and saw just how much they have to do on any given day during the conflict. here's what we saw. more than 1,000 rockets have been fired at israeli towns from gaza. while many were intercepted by missile defense systems, some have hit residential areas. that's where these men come in. we're riding along with a bomb disposal unit from the israeli

police. a group that is working overtime in the current conflict. >> we've been through these type of situations before. we've maneuvered more than 500 police officers at the moment on a daily basis from different parts of the country into all of the southern cities such as ashkelon, beer sheva. >> reporter: we arrive at the scene of an impact. >> what is important is to make sure that the area is safe, we're talking about civilian population that is being targeted and hit. and therefore it's vital for us to make sure that no one will get injured. and it should be after the rocket attack. >> reporter: those in the bomb disposal unit are forensic experts. the rockets they find are analyzed in labs to find out where they were made, how they work and most important what

types of explosives were used. so this is an assortment of rockets that have fallen over the ashkelon area. it's not all of them. it's only some of them. there's more laying around here. but there's various types of rockets you can find. for instance, this one is apparently a grad rocket. you can tell by the fins that pop out when the rocket gets launched. whereas this one here is one of those homemade kasam rockets. this is made in a workshop in gaza and you can tell the fins are welded on in a very rudimentary way. the unit's work is hard because they often have to take cover themselves when cover themselves when rockets come flying in. >> even these guys have to go inside when there is a rocket alarm. we're going to go in here, and i guess they're probably going to go out and try to find remnants of the rockets. >> reporter: even with the possible end of hostilities between israel and hamas, rockets remain a threat to israeli civilians. it seems this will never come to an end. >> and wolf, just to give you an

idea how hard the work is these guys are doing, they have been going nonstop since the conflict began about a week ago, and just in the time that we were with them, which was just a few hours, they had to go into bomb shelters six times, and then afterwards, they had to move out to various sites to clear up the debris of rockets that had rained down. so certainly the guys from that unit will be hoping that the cease fire really holds. wolf? >> have you lost count, fred, how many times you've heard the sirens going off and that you've had to run for cover? >> reporter: yes. i have to tell you, i have indeed lost count of that. one thing i do recall, though, is that there were six times that we had to run for cover while we were live on the air in the past week. so that was actually quite a lot, but in total, there were many times. we've gotten into mortar attacks, we've gotten into rocket attacks. we had times we had to hit the deck when we were out in the

open where all we could do was lay flat and hope nothing lands next to us. we had times we had to flee into bunkers, we had times we had to flee into buildings. there were really times here when we saw a lot of rockets going over our heads. one thing we also saw a lot of was the iron dome in action. that's really something that i think left many people here in awe is seeing the iron dome in action and seeing those batteries combat multiple tar s targets. we had one time we were laying down and just saw puffs of smoke from rockets overhead being lane down by the iron dome. >> thanks, fred, very much. one of our courageous reporters, and we have a lot of them. fred pleitgen reporting from israel. more than a week of fighting against israel. what it could mean for how this cease fire plays out. stand by for new information. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news

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hamas did suffer what some believe could be a game-changing loss in this more than week-long battle against israel and that could take a toll on how the cease fire plays out. brian has been working this part of the story for us. he's got some new details. what are you learning, brian? >> reporter: the irony is hamas' loss at the hand of the israelis could be israel's loss in the long run. last week israel took out hamas' real military genius but also a man who could have reined in some of the hamas' militants during this cease fire. hamas' ability to hold up its end of the cease fire depends on how much control they have over their most dangerous militants.

israeli forces killed the leader of the hamas military wing last week. >> you actually believe it was mistake for israel to take him out, right? >> i do believe it was a mistake to take him out. i believe the core goals because of taking him out will not be met. i believe it will be less control over extremist groups and less control over rocket attacks and increased violence against israel. >> elizabeth and other analysts say achmed was a key person in hamas. >> there were people in hamas jails for firing rockets at israelis. not for the act of firing rockets but for firing rockets at the wrong time, and achm achmed jabari was one of the leaders who put him in jail. >> reporter: he was a key player

driving the moderate faction out of gaza. then -- >> he completely changed the hamas military structure, not only in terms of defeating in gaza but after the hamas takeover, turning into into an organized militia if not an army. >> reporter: organizing them into companies, battalions, brigades. he worked closely with iran to organize training and shipment of weapons to hamas, including long-range missiles that can strike tel aviv and israel. they say he was instrumental in 2006. he also negotiated the release of shalit five years later in exchange for the release of palestinian prisoners. now -- >> not having somebody like that, somebody who can be an enforcer of peace as well as an enforcer of war can make it not only hard to reach a peace agreement, it can make it hard

to avoid war because whenever somebody decides to take a pot shot, they take a pot shot. >> reporter: now all eyes will be who among the surviving hamas leaders can bring the group in line and try to keep some measure of peace with israel. it's believed muhammad dafe, who worked behind the scenes of hamas' leadership at least temporarily has taken his place, but he himself was impaired by two assassination attempts by the israelis, and it's not clear how much control he has. wolf? >> fascinating, fascinating information. brian, thanks for that report. and you're in the situation room. happening now, cars and people crowd the streets of gaza to celebrate the new cease fire between israel and hamas, but how long will it hold? i'll ask hamas spokesman what he expects in the hours and days ahead. and a reminder that many

israelis are still in danger. a public bust in te bombed just before the announcement. news of a cease fire might give hamas more control of the region. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. you're in the situation room. we're keeping a close watch on the situation in gaza right now as well as the situation in southern israel. four hours into the cease fire between israel and hamas. here's a look at the situation in gaza first. people have been celebrating the truce agreement, a break in israel's deadly eight-day attacks against hamas.

they're trying to give them a chance, but israel has fired at least six rockets since it went into effect. a ground war of gaza is still an option if -- if -- the truce fails. >> translator: i know there are those that expect an even more intense military response, and that may perhaps be needed. but at this time the right thing for the state of israel is to exhaust this opportunity to obtain a long-term cease fire or an ongoing cease fire. as the prime minister, i have the supreme responsibility to take the right steps to safeguard our security. that is what i've always done and that is what i will continue to do. >> the cease fire was announced by egypt's foreign minister and the visiting secretary of state hillary clinton in cairo. both egypt and the u.s. played critical roles in these negotiations. the agreement was reached despite the bombing of the

public bus in tel aviv earlier in the day. 24 people were injured. no one was killed. western leaders strongly condemned it as a terrorist attack. i've been talking to top israeli officials about the cease fire. now let's get the hamas point of view. we're joined on the phone by the hamas spokesman, mr. humdun. he's in beirut. he joined us yesterday before there was an agreement. is hamas prepared to stop all shelling of rockets, missiles, fire power into israel? >> thank you very much for this question. in fact, we have agreed and have negotiated for the last three days through the egyptians. and it was clear that hamas has clearly been restricted from fire and we will respect that

today. the head of the politburo had a press conference one hour after the cease fire and he said hamas will be committed to this agreement and hamas will fulfill these restrictions directly, and i think this will be seen clearly in the coming few hours and days. >> so there's no more shelling, no more rockets going into israel. what other commitments were you asked to make by the egyptians who acted as the mediator? >> in fact, if this continues, they will continue what they have agreed on, making the life of the palestinians more easy in gaza. hamas also says there will be no more outrage. the egyptian has given feedback

from both sides, the palestinians and the israelis. and i hope that they can succeed in obtaining that and observing both sides. >> have you made a commitment -- it's a little unclear to me -- to stop some of these weapons, the rockets that have been smuggled into gaza through those tunnels, especially missiles coming in from iran? >> well, i think it is through the boulders and that's clear. if you want to talk about another commitment, i think this is something to be negotiated another time. this time we have negotiated the cease fire. both sides beginning to cease.

that's it. so if anyone is asking about any other comments made, no one said anything. if that was on the table, to clear, there is a statement in the agreement that if there is anything to be discussed, it's supposed to be put on the table and discussed later on. so we did not discuss the points which you had mentioned. >> we heard from a spokeswoman for the israeli military say that there were five what you described as relatively minor incidents, air rockets coming in, since the agreement went into effect. but i want to make it clear, does hamas completely control all of gaza, or are there other splinter groups that might be launching some of those rockets that hamas perhaps doesn't necessarily control? >> well, in fact, the more ev t

eventful part of the negotiations, they said in agreement they will be accommodated for that. it's clear on the ground that the major momengroups and some groups have agreed on that and they have declared that either through the negotiation or offered that by saying they are supporting that and they will back this up. this time i think it's clear. i hope that no one was caught trying to put obstacles or sticks in the wheels. let's see what will happen, and i think the commitments and the agreements are clear, and our speech also that is also clear. >> there was a terrorist bombing of a bus in tel aviv today. 24 israelis were injured. no one was killed. i know that hamas issued a

statement earlier praising this, although denying any responsibility. what, if any, row did hamas perhaps have to play in this incident in tel aviv? >> someone else pro claimed the responsibility of this situation. now we are in a different situation. and according to this situation, we have to see if anything is gotten through the agreement or not. the agreement was clear and we are saying more also clear, we will not break down or abuse this agreement.

thasomeone else who has not up on him. >> one final question, mr. humdun, before i let you go. if the cease fire holds over the next couple weeks, do you hope it leads to real peace allegations between the palestinians and the israelis, leading to a two-state territory alongside palestine? >> i think. i've seen people that are looking forward to having their -- and achieve their goals. and they are pining tyou, and they are hoping to do that. and i assure you, if it can do

that, more easier they will do it. but at the same time tourist this. to survive the winter possibility or there is a strong urnl to do this colon. >> mr. humdun, thank you for joining us. let's hope the cease fireworks and eventually this peace process can get up off the ground. president obama strongly encouraged the israeli prime minister to agree to the cease fire. in fact, they've just released the stone. to hear him talking, he says he'll send her to the middle east. let's go to jill daugherty. she's at the white house watching this story for us.

jill, you've learned more about the president's big role behind the scenes. what are you picking up? >> the white house is, saying she did accept work on or all of this. but they also made it clear that the president more than one shoving tool. not actually physically the way it was, as her r disappear burst on it. these were the last two calls the president made, he would argue, that clinched the deal. also to the egyptian president morsei. they also pointed out -- they gave some background details that even though we were initially told that the president was being briefed by the secretary, clinton and his national security adviser were told that he was on the phone a

lot, of course, almost every day as one official put it to benjamin netanyahu t. three. it's a best of your knowledge oning relationship, and, they say, based a lot of. >> beyond the. what about east side? what else did they gain? >> i thi starting withv, saidavsaot ageent. help,stop, allowing inspections frp the seat and the extra one pushing for iron dome which has saved a lot of lifz as is stressing a lot sfl the

relationship with morsei. his personal role is going to be very important in the future. there was a lot of criticism of egypt on capitol hill. that could look to violence. and ham parks s n mrkm as is no individuals. wolf? >> for the first time in several years, there's been a major terrorist attack in tel aviv. we're going live to the bus explosion at the service center. plus, my latest on him making it a mideast envoy with bill clinton. >> i have the highest regard for president clinton. i think he's an outstanding

person. he's the most sunny person i can think of. ♪

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just hours before the announcement -- just hours before the announcement of a truce between israel and hamas, they took their fight with israel right into the heart of the country. a bomb burst in a bus in tel aviv. 24 people were injured. sara, what's the latest on the investigation? >> reporter: we know that they might be close to an arrest or may have already arrested maybe potentially two people in this case. we're still trying to get confirmation about that from the police, but that is what we're hearing. we also know that there are still five patients who are being treated at the hospital of

those two dozen patients that were affected by this bomb. it blew up around noon. we know that there were helicopters in the sky. there was a high alert in the city. they have dropped that alert down to a normal alert, so really, right now, i think the city is very, very calm. you're not seeing a lot of people in the streets. there were fewer people in the streets after that blast for worry that there would be more of that kind of activity, but i think people are glad to hear about the cease fire. however, we talked to quite a few people in the streets over the past few hours about the cease fire and what it meant to them, and one person said, look, we would have preferred for benjamin netanyahu to go all the way, as he put it, and to finish this off for good. so really wanting a permanent solution. they don't want to deal with any more rockets coming into israel and the consequences of having the air strikes then over gaza, and we talked to someone else who said, look, we want it finished as well but we don't want to see a ground war. we didn't want to see it get to

that point, but they do want to see a permanent solution, wolf, and that's the word that we've been hearing from sitvilthe civ here, the people that have to live with these rockets coming into israel over the past several days. they want a permanent solution, but for right now a cease fire is enough so people can have a restful sleep at least for a while. wolf? >> let's hope that happens. sara seidner in tel aviv. we're standing by in gaza. going there next. ropean-inspire, but it's not from germany. ♪ a powerful, fuel-efficient engine, but it's not from japan. ♪ it's a car like no other... from a place like nother. introducing the all-w 2013hevrolet malibu, our greatest malibu ever.

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people have been jamming the streets for several hours, they're celebrating the new cease fire between israel and hamas. our senior international correspondent has been in gaza for the past several days. what's it like now, arwa? >> reporter: well, wolf, after people were celebrating for future hours after that cease-fire was announced, the streets are in fact quiet. it seems as though people went home wanting to be able to get some rest after everything they've been through since all of this began last wednesday. we can once again hear the drones buzzing overhead. the streets were so crowded. there was a traffic jam for the first time. we were hearing ambulance sirens, because they, too, had taken to the streets. we were down speaking to people, some of them saying they were celebrating because they felt this was a victory for hamas, for the palestinians.

others said they piled their families into their vehicles just because they could go out for the first time. again, because people have been spending the better part of the last eight days hunkered down in their homes, unsure where an air strike was going to take place and living in complete and utter fear. but, of course, there are great concerns amongst many that this is just a short-term solution because that long-term solution for peace may remain elusive as they know only too well, wolf. >> we'll see what happens. we don't want to get overly optimistic based on this one cease-fire agreement. want to make sure it holds. arwa, thank you for your report. we want to hear about his brokering the cease-fire deal between israel and hamas. the israeli president tells me what he thinks of muhammad

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. here in jerusalem, indeed across the middle east, all keath players in the cease-fire agreement between israel and hamas know this, they know it's just the first step. that's not discouraging the people of gaza, though, from celebrating. israel agreed to halt its deadly air offensive against targets in gaza. defense officials say militants aren't entirely holding their fire. they've launched five rockets, they say, toward israel since the cease-fire began, but they say the incidents have been minor. not long before the cease-fire was announced, i had a chance to sit down with the israeli preside president. we spoke about the possibility of a truce and how that might affect the region. mr. president, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> how concerned are you that if there is a cease-fire that the

status of hamas will be dramatically elevated at the expense of the palestinian authority, president abbas. >> the three conditions are put forward by the united states of america, russia, the independent united nations. they say stop shooting and start talking. we are not alone in that. if the world can agree that they can shoot and everything will be open and they won't be punished, it's a fantasy. i think even the egyptians understand deep in their hearts that this will not fly. and i'm presently surprised by the position taken by the president of egypt.

>> mohamed morsi? >> yes. >> he's been doing a good job, in your view? >> i'm worried that his heart is somewhere else. but his behavior is responsible. and because responsibility is needed for everybody, for us and for them. you know, people say we are the problem. that's not the problem. hamas is losing peace. people say from the outside, newspapers, they say take out your settlements and lead your own life. nobody faults us. we have had 18 settlements.

we took them out. there were close to 9,000 settl settlers. we left gaza free, open, gaza and israel. now we want to continue with the palestinians and people are saying, what are you doing? we have to have people think, what do they want? independence? because that is not there. freedom? they can move where they want. >> what is the role of the united states, the secretary of state, for example, hillary clinton, who has been here? >> i think the united states is doing what they can by talking with morsi, the egyptian president. i think the united states took a moral position on the side of israel for which i am extremely

thankful. and no, it's not simple to go through these days. i would say the president was clear. i think we should also be thankful for the anti-missiles. >> the iron dome. >> yes, the iron dome. and we are grateful to the president, to the american people, and we think, too, america is fighting wars. >> when you see what's happening in gaza, you see the pictures of innocent civilians who have been killed and children, families. what goes through your mind? >> it makes me sad. i think it's not needed. i think they are responsible people for it in hamas. they should stop shooting in a moment. it is in their hands, not in our

hands. any child is a child. it doesn't give me any pleasure, any satisfaction to see somebody suffering. enemies have their models, enemies have their lapses, but they all can stop it unilaterally in one second. >> are you worried that a second front could open up in the north with hezbollah coming in from lebanon? they have a lot of rockets and missiles, too. >> everything is possible, but i am satisfied about those issues in the united nations about lebanon and hezbollah. and interestingly enough, they tried now to shoot through

lebanon. the world must decide is terror permitted and welcome? and whoever, do we kill or not? >> the palestinian authority, president mahmoud abbas, wants them to give something in the next few days. are they responsible? >> no. you don't change the situation on the ground without agreeing by both sides. second, it is a mistake, because today you have the quartet that is a negotiating body. the minute they reaccept it, everything will be hanging in the air. they will accept it in ten

agencies of the united nations, and i assure you that this negotiation of the two sides try to accuse each other who is the war criminal. they're going to spend their life in debt. and then the president was just elected. he will enter the white house officially the second part of january. >> president obama. >> president obama. he has to form his government. in his election on the 22nd of january. you don't negotiate an electoral campaign. >> have you said this to president mahmoud abbas? >> yes. i have respect for him. i don't give him advice. so let him wait until two or three months for the american government. and then also we can even

improve the meaning of opening negotiations without prior conditions, because they say no prior conditions and now prior conditions. oldest can be settled. and they say it will take another two or three months. if they don't do it, the congress may stop the financial assistance through the palestinians. hamas will get money from iran, from turkey, from other countries, and it will look like hamas is winning the story. it's a mistake. >> i know your time is limited, so i'll ask you the question i've been asking people. the other day john mccain, a senator, suggested that president obama ask former president bill clinton to serve as a special envoy to try to revive israeli palestinian peace negotiations. george mitchell did it until about a year and a half ago. hillary clinton is leaving the state department. do you think that's a good idea?

>> i have the highest regard for president clinton. i think he's an outstanding person. he is the most sunny president i can think of. but it's not for me to nominate american president. >> would he be welcome, as a mediator, as a negotiator? >> i don't want to answer because i think the president of the united states should be free to make his choice, and i think we should respect his choice. but i don't think it's proper for they to indicate we have any favor. i assure you that our respect for the president obama and for clinton, for whom i have the highest regard as well. but in america, that is a decision for the american president. >> there's more of my interview

coming up with shimo peres. and something president obama did that peres said israel will never forget. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney...

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the soobama administration played a crucial role to do a cease-fire for hamas. that has been under way for the past several hours. i spoke with peres about his relationship with the united states and his own longevity with the united states. here again, my interview with peres. >> mitt romney accused president obama of throwing israel under

the bus. >> well, let's look at the facts. israel is not under the bus. the fact is that president obama, and we shall not forget it, helped us to fire those missiles. it was clearly a conflict that we asked him in positively and he is the president of the united states. he enjoyed the support of the president and they don't want to say anything about candidate romney negatively, but we are not taking part in the american campaign. and we are lucky to have the support of the two parties. and it's hard to become the president of the united states, you know. i met other presidents for the last 50 years, republicans and democrats. i must say.

>> what about you? you're getting close to 90 years old. it's hard to believe, you look so great. how do you feel? >> i feel that i'm too young to quit job. >> because you still have some energy left. >> i feel everybody can be like me, and i think i'm lucky to serve my people. i'm not here to woo the people. if i can sell my people in any way, i am glad to do so. -- serve my people in any way, i'm glad to do so. and if i'm in good shape, i don't have reasons to protest against it. it's acceptable for me. >> i read in the israeli press that there were some ideas maybe you should challenge benjamin netanyahu in the upcoming electi election. >> don't you think i'm too young for the job? >> i think you look great. >> i have a responsibility in

the constitution. i am the president of the israeli people. i have to fulfill my time, which is another year and a month, and i shall be done. >> is there one piece of advice you could share with our audience how you are so energetic and so alert all these years? >> the first thing is self-control. before you try to control anybody else, every person is the best doctor of himself. he knows how much to eat and how much not to eat, how much to work. use your own experience to control yourself. secondly, be engaged. if you ask me, don't go on vacations. i don't know what people are doing during vacations. it's a waste of time. the best vacation is to work, to

be engaged, to be curious, to care, to love people. and to be an optimist. people say i'm too optimistic. my opinion is optimists and pessimists pass away but live differently. may i say the pessimist lives long as well, and i believe you really have to sell to be positive, to try and help. i believe generosity is wiser and stronger than quality of trying to hold onto something else. the secret of life is goodwill

and n. and also something else i learned, the highest degree of wisdom is honesty. there is nothing higher in life than to be an honest man. >> mr. president, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hard to believe he's 89 years old, almost 90 years old. he's amazing, amazing, indeed. coming up, jesse jackson, jr. he explains why he's now decided to resign from congress. we have details of his very candid letter. ♪

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cnn coverage of the

israel-hamas cease-fire by erin burnett. erin, you'll be speaking with israeli and palestinian to ask question you've been asking as you talked about how there are more rockets coming since the cease-fire. a few. will it hold? that's the big question. some of the elements of the cease-fire, are these even reasonable? we'll be joined by the israeli deputy foreign minister as well as the plo ambassador to the united states who supported hamas earlier this week. both of them going to come out front to answer those questions tonight. that's coming up top of the hour, wolf. until then, back to you in jerusalem. >> thanks very much. >> all right. this just coming in "the situation room." brand new comments by the united states ambassador to the united nations susan rice about the attack in benghazi, libya. joe johns has the details. what's going on, joe? >> wolf, minutes ago at the united nations, u.s. ambassador

susan rice broke her silence about the controversy other her response to the september 11 terror attack on the consulate in benghazi, libya. many republicans including john mccain say her comments after the attack were intentionally misleading. >> i relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. i made clear that information was preliminary. and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers. everyone, particularly the intelligence community, has worked in good faith to provide the best assessment based on the information available. i have great respect for senator mccain and his service to our country. i always have. and i always will. i do think that some of the statements he's made about me have been unfounded. but i look forward to having the opportunity at the appropriate time to discuss all of this with him. >> rice also said that the u.s.

welcomes the israeli-hamas cease-fire and whoever president obama picks as the next secretary of state will pursue a two-state solution. the son of the civil rights leader congressman jesse jackson jr. has been out of the public eye for months being treated for what he calls several serious health issues. now he's out the congress as well. he's being investigated by the fbi and the house ethics committee. in a resignation letter to john boehner, jackson says over the past several months my health has deteriorated, my ability to serve my constituents and my district has continued to diminish. against the recommendations of my doctors, i had hoped and tried to return to washington and continue working on the issues that matter most to the people of the second district. i know now that will not be possible. >> india hanged the last surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attacks in mum buy that killed more than 160 people. it was the first use of capital punishment many india in eight years. the pakistani mohammed kasab was

one of ten armed men who attacked mumbai landmarks including hotels, train stations and a jewish center. indian forces killed nine other suspects. and now back to woflf right there in jerusalem. wolf? >> joe, thanks very much. if i don't see you before, have a very, very happy thanksgiving. this just coming in to cnn right now. the nypd has made an arrest in the shooting deaths of three brooklyn shop keepers. shell casings found in the three crime scenes were fired from the suspect's rifle. police have been trying to determine whether the string of murders was the most recent of which occurred a few days ago was the work of one serial killer. the latest out of the middle east is minutes away will we'll tell you what's going on. and i , but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose.

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here's a look at this hour's hot shots in washington. members of the national guard and their families received food for a thanksgiving meal n bolivia, information is given for the national census. in england, a horse and cart passed through a flooded street. and in india, a camel trader keeps warm under a blanket at a livestock fair. pictures coming in from around the world. today a bankruptcy judge gave preliminary approval to the hostess brands request to begin liquidating the 82-year-old company. chances are another baker will buy the recipes and rights for the best known products including twinkies. so this thanksgiving won't be your last chance to do what

jeannie moose d jeannie moosd. >> what do you get when you combine a turkey with a bunch of twinkies. you're not kidding? >> i'm serious. >> your mother fed you twinkies in a turkey. >> in a turkey. it tastes good. >> it's not what you think. catering's mom didn't shove whole twinkies up a turkey. that would be animal molestation. but because butch and his brother didn't like turkey and did like twinkies, the mom concocted what we're calling turtwinkie. here's the recipe. decream the twinkies. >> we break down the twinkies. we reserve the cream. it has the sugar in it. we rub the turkey that. >> thus, creating a twinkie filling glaze. next, crumble the golden sponge cake into regular stuffing. for a pan this size, they added about ten twinkies. >> it's not fully twinkie. if it was all twinkie, it would be too sweet. >> stuff and cook the bird.

presentation took place at kennedy's restaurant on new york's 57th street. time for the turtwinkie taste test. >> very good. but i don't taste any twinkie. >> and what about that skin? again, delicious, but hard to detect a twinkie. it's a lot more subtle than delicacies like deep fried twinkies. >> we were putting hotdogs inside of them. >> once you survive twinkies as hot dog buns drizzled with cheese whiz, what's a little turtwinkie? >> jeannie moos, seasocnn, new . >> i want to leave you with the live picture of gaza right now. several hours now after the cease-fire took hold. so far, no major interruptions. let's hope this cease-fire continues for everyone in the region. thanks very much for